She traded her tail for legs and a voice for silence. But even on land, the sea’s song haunts her still.

Kailani has always yearned for more than the endless tides of the sea. Fascinated by the world of humans, she strikes a dangerous bargain to walk among them. Unable to speak their language and cut off from the song through which she once communicated, she finds herself stranded in a realm ruled by coin and secrets.

As she navigates bustling markets, ship decks, and a love built across silence, Kailani must cling to her identity in a world where others speak for her. But the sea does not forget its daughters—and the consequences of her choices will echo far beyond her own tale.

Told in two haunting, connected halves, The Drowned Song is a darkly enchanting story of mermaids, motherhood, and the power of reclaiming your voice—even if it means becoming something entirely new.

I had long wanted to write a darker mermaid tale set among the Outer Isles, where the Old Gods hold sway and happy endings are never guaranteed. My mermaids became daughters of Velekai, the Drowned—some literally and others transformed from humans who drowned or were cast out.

Then I heard the Cornish folktale The Mermaid’s Revenge on the Fairy Tale Fix podcast. Rather than turn it into a separate book, I began imagining two connected halves: one shaped by a mermaid’s longing to leave the sea, and another by the sea calling someone back.

The story’s central idea grew from asking what “voice” would mean to creatures born beneath the water. Kailani has never possessed a human speaking voice. Instead, the mermaids communicate through signs and sounds resembling whale song, while their wordless siren song carries its own magic. When Kailani becomes human, she loses that song and enters a world where she has no voice at all. Across both halves of the tale, song becomes a form of communication, longing, inheritance, and power.

I loved the two-part nature of this novella, giving a sense of two tales in one while retaining a unified theme and overarching tale.

— Elizabeth Wilcox

This is probably my favorite entry in the *Tales of Tessagonia* series so far. I enjoyed the new approach to a familiar story, and I found it well-paced and compelling. I didn’t want to stop reading!

— Anika Nacey

This was a heavy one, with messages about choices, responsibility and consequences. This is one of my favorites in the series so far.

— Erin Robinson